Improvement in plates for desiccating eggs



UNTTEE STATES PATENT GEETCED PETER COOPER, OF NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TOCHARLES A. LA MONT, OF TURNERS, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN PLATES FOR DESICCATING EGGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 172,611, dated January25, 1876; application led February 18, 1875.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, PETER COOPER, of the cityand State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Apparatus for theDesiccation of Eggs, &c., of which the following is a specification Myinvention relates to an improvement in the construction of that class ofapparatus for the desiccation of eggs, glue, and similar duid orsemi-Huid substances, wherein a dim ofthe liquid egg or glue is taken upupon a revolving plate, and dried thereon by exposure to a current ofheated air, until it can be removed in the form of hard thin scales oriiakes. It has been found, in practical operation, extremely difficultto obtain a pure and merchantable article of desiccated egg uponsnspended and revolving metallic plates, of sufticient thickness toadmit of heilig scraped and cleaned by machinery, because of thechemical action of the uid egg upon the metal, which produces adecomposition, and consequent discoloration, of the egg; and, moreover,it has been likewise found impossible to dry either eggs or gine uponsuch plates, when revolving, in sufcientquantity, With sufficientrapidity, to render the process profitable, because of the eXtremetenuity of the lm obtained thereon at a single dipping. Hence, inpractical use, desiccatingmachines containing revolving metallicdipping-plates have proved unavailable for the preservation of egg andglue for commercial purposes, and experimental tests with plates made ofporcelain, glass, and other materials presenting a hard, smooth, andhighly-polished surface, as a substitute for metal, have resulted inestabbakedV clay, as a medium for taking up and retainingthe liquid eggor glue until it has been dried by a current of heated air, produced andintroduced into the desiccating apparatusin any suitable manner. Bymeans thereof I obtain a desiccating-surface of precisely the qualityneeded for a thoroughly practical suspended revolving' plate-viz., ofsufficient roughness to take up a comparatively large volume of theliquid egg or glue at each di pping, and yet smooth enough to permit aready detachment therefrom of the dried film, while at the same timeentire purity and healthfulness of the egg product thus obtained at alow cost of manufacture is secured.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a plan view of adesiccating-disk 5 and Fig. 2 is a section of a dipping-shaft,illustrating` one manner of arranging the desiccating-disks thereon.

In manufacturing these improved desiccating disks or plates from slate,it is only needful to take the rough slabs as delivered from the quarry,and dress and polish the same into plates of suitable thickness-viz., athickness of about one-half of an inch fora disk thirty-six inches indiameter. The surface thereof should be left perfectly smooth and true,and yet without high polish. VThe form of the plate is to be adapted tothe description of machine in which it is to be used. For the La Montapparatus they are cut into circular form, (see Fig. 1,) and a centralaperture' is formed therein to receive the supporting-shaft, by whichthey are made to revolve. In manufacturing them from clay, the clay isfirst properly tempered, as for the manufacture of fire-brick, and thenmolded into plates or disks of the required dimensions, but of athickness somewhat greater than in a plate made of slate. These slabsare then baked or burned in a suitable kiln, at such a temperature asshall thoroughly harden and temper them without glazing the surfacethereof, so that they shall remain hard and perfectly smooth, and yet toa certain degree porous. Where they are to be placed upon a centralshaft the central aperture is formed in each disk in the process ofmolding, so that the plates, when baked, are ready for use. In usingthese improved disks ofslate or unglazed earthenware upon a revolvingshaft, a packing of canvas, felt, or other elastic material isinterposed 'between the several disks or their cious surfaces, adaptedto eoileet and retain in intermediate.collars, (see Fig. 2,) and alsobetheir revolution the liquid film for clesieeutlion, tween. each diskand the shaft upon which it substantially as herein set forth.

revolves.

I claim as my invention- PETER COOPER. As an improvementin bhe art ofdesieeating Witnesses: eggs, glue, 85e., a revolving non-metallic miu-S. R. GOODALE,

eral plate or disk, formed with uuglalzed tena- DAVID LAUGHLIN.

